President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has restarted the aging Taichung Power Plant’s No. 2 coal-fired generator, even though most people in Taichung are against it. It is alarming to see the government abuse its power like this by trampling on public opinion and harming the health of people who live in central Taiwan.
Tsai told Taiwanese that they did not need to worry about having enough electricity while the government built a “nuclear-free homeland,” but it turns out that she is building a “coal-burning homeland” and giving Taipower Power Co (Taipower) free rein to damage people’s health.
Tsai is always talking about how Taiwanese should let the world see the nation and saying that “Taiwan can help.”
Does she really think she can help the world by burning bituminous coal? Does she want the world to see Taiwan as incapable of saving electricity and reducing carbon emissions, but able and willing to cause pollution?
Restarting the No. 2 coal-fired generator is not in tune with public opinion, nor is it in tune with a worldwide trend of protecting the environment and cutting carbon emissions. It is a devious and retrograde thing to do.
According to a public opinion poll from Tunghai University’s local self-government research center, less than 20 percent of respondents said they agreed that the Taichung Power Plant should restart its two aging coal-fired generators.
Further analysis shows that only 23.1 percent of men, 29.7 percent of people aged 30 to 39 and 33.7 percent of pan-green camp supporters are in favor of restarting the units, while the overall average was just 19.1 percent.
This shows that support for restarting the units is low across all of these groups. The overall percentage of people opposed to restarting the units was 67.3 percent.
These figures prove that there is no clear divide between pan-blue and pan-green camp supporters with regard to restarting the generators.
When asked about the Taichung City Government’s intention to decommission the generators, 78.8 percent of Taichung residents surveyed said that they supported the plan.
This indicates that the city government should stick to its policy of alleviating pollution by burning less coal.
As 67.3 percent of Taichung residents are against Taipower restarting Taichung Power Plant’s two aging units, it is even clearer that Taipower, as a bellwether state-run company, should respect public opinion and get in step with the worldwide trend of burning less coal by not restarting any more coal-fired generators.
This would enable Taipower to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and reduce its effects on air quality.
No one can escape the effects of air pollution. Tsai’s administration should respect public opinion and pity the residents of central Taiwan whose health is among the worst-affected.
The government should also abide by the worldwide trend of using less coal, instead of misreading the situation and taking retrograde steps.
Pan Chao-min is a professor in Tunghai University’s political science department and Center for General Education.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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